Uncle Titus and His Visit to the Country

Uncle Titus and His Visit to the
Country, by
by Louise Brooks

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by
Johanna Spyri, Translated by Louise Brooks
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Title: Uncle Titus and His Visit to the Country
Author: Johanna Spyri
Release Date: January 17, 2005 [eBook #14710]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
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TITUS AND HIS VISIT TO THE COUNTRY***
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UNCLE TITUS AND HIS VISIT TO THE COUNTRY
A Story for Children and for Those Who Love Children
Translated from the German of
JOHANNA SPYRI
by
Louise Brooks
Boston De Wolfe, Fiske & Co 361 and 365 Washington Street
1886

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
I.
UNDER THE LINDENS
II. LONG, LONG DAYS
III. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HEDGE
IV. ALL SIX
V. BEFORE AND AFTER THE FLOOD
VI. A FRIGHTFUL DEED
VII. LONG-WISHED-FOR HAPPINESS
VIII. MORE CHARADES AND THEIR ANSWERS

IX. "WHAT MUST BE, MUST BE"
CHAPTER I.
UNDER THE LINDENS.
The daily promenaders who moved slowly back and forth every
afternoon under the shade of the lindens on the eastern side of the
pretty town of Karlsruhe were very much interested in the appearance
of two persons who had lately joined their ranks. It was beyond doubt
that the man was very ill. He could only move slowly and it was
touching to see the care with which his little companion tried to make
herself useful to him. He supported himself with his right hand on a
stout stick, and rested his left upon the shoulder of the child at his side,
and one could see that he needed the assistance of both. From time to
time he would lift his left hand and say gently,
"Tell me, my child, if I press too heavily upon you."
Instantly, however, the child would catch his hand and press it down
again, assuring him,
"No, no, certainly not, Papa, lean upon me still more: I do not even
notice it at all."
After they had walked back and forth for a while, they seated
themselves upon one of the benches that were placed at convenient
distances under the trees, and rested a little.
The sick man was Major Falk, who had been in Karlsruhe only a short
time. He lived before that in Hamburg with his daughter Dora, whose
mother died soon after the little girl came into the world, so that Dora
had never known any parent but her father. Naturally, therefore, the
child's whole affection was centred upon Major Falk, who had always
devoted himself to his little motherless girl with such tenderness that
she had scarcely felt the want of a mother, until the war with France
broke out, and he was obliged to go with the Army. He was away for a
long time, and when at last he returned, it was with a dangerous wound

in his breast. The Major had no near relatives in Hamburg, and he
therefore lived a very retired life with his little daughter as his only
companion, but in Karlsruhe he had an elder half-sister, married to a
literary man, Mr. Titus Ehrenreich.
When Major Falk was fully convinced that his wound was incurable, he
decided to remove to Karlsruhe, in order not to be quite without help
when his increasing illness should make it necessary for him to have
some aid in the care of his eleven-year-old daughter. It did not take
long to make the move. He rented a few rooms in the neighborhood of
his sister, and spent the warm spring afternoons enjoying his regular
walk under the shade of the lindens with his little daughter as his
supporter and loving companion.
When he grew weary of walking and they sat down on a bench to rest,
the Major had always some interesting story to tell, to beguile the time,
and Dora was certain that no one in the whole world could tell such
delightful stories as her father, who was indeed in her opinion the most
agreeable and lovable of men. Her favorite tales, and those which the
Major himself took most pleasure in relating, were little incidents in the
life of Dora's mother, who was now is heaven. He loved to tell the child
how affectionate and happy her mother had always been, and how
many friends she had won for herself, and how she always brought
sunshine with her wherever she went, and how nobody ever